156
K. M. A. BARNETT
O.S.
S.S.
129 yuen 元 jzynn
Meaning or Remarks
other version of ngau (54). Note the second character, the normal reading of which is trow. Man 47 glossary gives 123 i.e. the prince when speaking
of himself,
SPECIAL NOTE ON MA, NGAU, PAK, TAI
In the most prevalent Punti160 dialect, the Namtau156 dialect spoken in the N.W. plains by the oldest-established clans, there is confusion between final -n and -ng; e.g. the surname Man149 is pronounced Mang, Chan133 is pronounced Chang, while Ching136 is pronounced Chan, and so on. Even in the Hakka dialects a few similar cases can be heard. Now it is known that among several aboriginal tongues of S.W. China the same feature occurs, Chinese words ending in -a, -an and -ang being mixed up when borrowed into the local speech, while local names ending in a sound like French en are indiscriminately rendered -a, -an or -ang in Chinese. Similarly with nasal initials, the explanation being that the nasals used in these languages did not quite tally either with Chinese n or ng.
Now in the word list a lot of the words whose interpretation is doubtful either begin or end with a nasal; while among the items we might expect to find and haven't are the names by which the first inhabitants of this region called themselves and one another.
The Chinese called all southern peoples, including the boat-people, Man147. One name for some of the boat-people of this area is Ma-jen146. The words Ma (42), Man (43) and Mang (44) occur in the list but are not satisfactorily explained. It is possible that we have here the name of one set of boat-people.
Another name for boat-people, but one which they will not use themselves, was Tan (88). In the words Tai (85), Tan (88) and Tang173 we may have a name by which the same boat-people or others were known to their neighbours.
The Yao179 are mentioned. Elsewhere the Yao preserve local tribal names, but the Chinese word may be a rendering of a Yao